Man charged with attempted gang murder in Readville has link to murder of gang peacemaker in 2006

Jerome Brady, arrested this week on charges he put several bullets into an alleged member of Roxbury's H Block gang on a quiet Readville street, served 18 months in prison for illegal possession of the guns authorities say were used to gun down H Block leader Jahmol Norfleet in 2006, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office confirms.

Brady was convicted on the illegal gun charges in 2008. He was arrested this week in Atlanta to face a variety of charges for the Sept. 6 shooting.

A second man, Javann Hall of Dorchester, was arrested in September in connection with the rapid-fire failed execution attempt. Officials say he drove Brady away from the scene. At Hall's arraignment, prosecutors charged the shooting was the result of a feud between the Orchard Park gang and H Block, and that it spilled into Readville when the victim was helping his girlfriend unload groceries.

After finishing his own prison sentence, Norfleet, with the help of local ministers, attempted to broker a peace with the rival Heath Street gang - culminating at a peace-conference-like session at the JFK library sponsored by ministers and the city. Although the session ended with both gangs agreeing to a truce, Norfleet was shot to death a few months later, just shy of his 21st birthday.

A few days later, Brody, then an Everett resident with no connection to Heath Street, was stopped in Boston for running a stop sign. Police found crack and two guns in his car. Ballistics tests showed the guns had been used in Norfleet's murder, although Brody was never charged for that crime. To date, nobody has been charged with Norfleet's murder and it remains under investigation, the DA's office says.